Roger Federer clinches Dubai Open title

Dubai: Roger Federer followed his best win in 18 months by taking his first title in nine months with a revenge victory over Tomas Berdych in Saturday's final of the Dubai Open. Federer came from behind to beat world number two Novak Djokovic on Friday.

Roger Federer with the trophy. Pic/AFP

Now he did the same against Berdych, the man who saved two match points against him in last year's semi-finals, winning 3-6, 6-4, 6-3 to claim a sixth title in the UAE.

It was never a great final, for the error count was too high, but it became increasingly dramatic as the game's best known player worked his way back into it against one of the sport's most dangerous hitters.

It extended Federer's record of Dubai titles to six, and moved him above John McEnroe's total of 77 titles into third place in the all-time title list. Only Ivan Lendl and Jimmy Connors remain above the Swiss.